Two minutes and fifty three seconds
by Nikolaos
Summary: He had two minutes and fifty three seconds to travel up four flights of stairs, go down three corridors and pass through five doors and all before the timer on the bomb gets to zero...
1. Chapter 1

-NCIS—

Tony stared at the bomb in his hand. Three minutes. That was all he had. Three minutes to climb four flights of stairs, run down three corridors and pass through five doors. Nothing too hard, really. Except of course that to do all that he had to let go of the bomb which would mean the timer that was on currently counting down at a second a minute would go back to real time. That would be one hundred and eighty seconds to go all that distance.

"I need you to leave," Tony whispered, his back still turned to his team.

"Tony, no," protested Ziva. "The bomb squad-"

"We both know they won't make it in time," Tony interrupted her.

"Then let me have another look at it?" she pleaded.

"You already did, I believe that's why we're down to three minutes, sorry, two minutes and fifty-nine seconds."

"Tony, I-"

"It's okay, now get going," he urged.

"We're a team, no man gets left behind," said McGee.

"Noble thoughts McLord, but I'm faster," Tony smiled.

"You've said that before," McGee muttered.

"And I was right," Tony said, his grin getting wider.

"Tony, I can't let you do this," said Ziva, frowning at him.

"I'm not asking. Now go," Tony ordered. "Go!" he shouted.

The three agents stared at each other, none of them wanting to back down. "Alright," said Ziva giving in. "But don't you dare leave it till the last moment to let go. You give yourself as much time as you can. You hear me?" she said jabbing him in the chest with one finger.

Tony grinned widely, "You better get going then."

McGee nodded grabbing a hold of Ziva's arm and pulling her towards the door, pushing her ahead of him, he turned back to Tony. "You better be right behind us."

Then he was gone. Tony breathed a deep sigh of relief, it was his job to make sure the team was safe, and he'd done that, now he just had to worry about himself. He looked back at the clock on the bomb, two minutes and fifty-eight seconds left. He would give Ziva and McGee five minutes to get out of the building and to safety. Then he would make his move.

Two minutes and fifty-three seconds. He would have two minutes and fifty-three seconds to climb four flights, go down three corridors and pass through five doors. The clock ticked over to two minutes and fifty-three seconds.

Dropping the bomb he started to run. The first door was open, skidding round the corner he dashed down the first corridor towards the stairwell. Flinging open the second door he started to climb.

Grabbing the rail he propelled himself around the corner and up the second flight. His blood pumping through his body, pounding inside his head. His legs burned with the effort, his knees screamed under pressure.

Third flight. Fourth flight. His breath coming in harsh gasps as he pushed himself harder and harder. Two minutes and fifty-three seconds, ran through his head, over and over. Two minutes and fifty-three seconds.

He was at the top of the stairs, reaching for the handle of the third door, only pausing for a moment as he wrenched it open and passes through, and then he's running again. Legs pumping, arms swinging he's on the second corridor. Not much further to go now. He's almost there, he's almost there.

He can see the fourth door, using his shoulder he crashes into it. His momentum not halting, he carries on going, flinging himself round the last corner, he slips.

His left knee crashes into the floor, the pain barely registers as he collides with the opposite wall. Cursing himself for wearing his designer shoes today.

Scrambling up he starts to run again. The fifth door. The last door, it's in sight. He made it, he actually made it. Putting on an extra burst of speed, he pushes himself those extra few metres.

Two minutes and fifty-three seconds and he's pushing open that final door, the sunlight cuts across his eyes as he carries on running. He's not safe yet.

He's running across the parking lot as the ground begins to tremble, then he's flying. Flying in a world of heat as his vision goes white. _Two minutes and fifty three seconds_. He can't feel anything, and then everything goes black.

_Zero._

-NCIS-

**AN: **I hope you enjoyed this, I'm not sure whether to continue this or just let you all keep guessing. Thoughts and opinions welcome.


	2. Chapter 2

AN: This is for all of you who reviewed and told me to write more. **Catsmeou** you can put away the voodoo pins now. Of course this has now evolved into something much bigger than just a second chapter. (Damn you all for letting those plot bunnies run wild.) I hope you continue to enjoy my work (sorry, play) and like before, all thoughts and opinions are very much welcome. Enjoy!

-NCIS—

_Twelve hours earlier_

Tony walked into his apartment, dumping his backpack on the floor he shrugged off his suit jacket and placed it on the back of the sofa. He was tired and wanted nothing more than a long hot shower and then bed. Their last case had been a tough one.

He was uncliping his gun and holster so that he could lock them away when he noticed his TV was on. A paused image of a young man with long dark hair and a day's growth on his face was on the screen. The holster forgotten his gun was in his hands and ready for a target if one should appear.

Cautiously Tony started to look around the rest of the room to see if anything else was out of place, his whole body now on alert. The previous tiredness he had felt was gone in a wave of adrenaline. Not seeing any immediate threat he picked up the remote to the DVD player and pressed play.

"Hello Special Agent DiNozzo," said the man on screen, smiling. "You are probably wondering what's going on. Don't worry I haven't touched anything else in your materialistic idea of a home," he laughed.

Tony's gut was starting to churn as he tried to work out if he knew the man on screen. Not trusting the unknown face he worked his way around the rest of his apartment to see if anything else had been left by the man.

The man on screen stopped laughing and continued to talk, "But this isn't one of your movies DiNozzo, the villain doesn't just spout his big bad plot and wait for the hero to come get him. Oh no, you are going to have to work for this one. But I will tell you this, there is a bomb in a government building, it's your job to find it."

Tony was back in front of the TV, the man on screen leaned forward his hand going out of shot. "Oh and one more thing, this message will self destruct in, oh I don't know, now." The screen went black as the video ended.

Tony stared at the screen trying to process what he had just seen; he had no idea who the man was. He couldn't even think how the man had gotten inside his apartment without him realising it.

A red flashing light behind the TV screen caught his attention. It was flashing faster and faster, not thinking twice he turned and sprinted out of his apartment.

Tony had barely crossed the threshold when the blast happened. The door to Tony's apartment was blown off its hinges, smashing to pieces on the opposite wall of the corridor. Tony raised his arms to shield his head as splinters flew through the air, thick smoke billowed out into the corridor causing him to cough.

A second later the building fire alarms kicked in, the sound echoing off the walls. Doors to other flats were flung open as people started to fill out. Kids screamed and adults yelled as they ran past him. He paid little attention to them, his eyes fixed on the remains of his apartment. Pain spiked in his hand as it started to cramp from the tight grip he still had on his gun.

"Tony, are you alright?" asked one of his neighbours.

"Get outside with the others," he ordered without really looking at the little old lady that lived two doors down from him.

He carefully walked back into his apartment, the inside was a burnt out wreck. The windows had been blown out, along with most of the exterior wall. Just by that quick glance he knew this was a professional. No amateur could have contained the blast to only his apartment. Though that offered him little comfort when looking around he couldn't see a single possession of his that wasn't burnt to a crisp.

-NCIS—

Ziva had her gun out and pointed as soon as the door to her apartment was open. The tiny piece of paper that she had strategically placed to warn her if somebody had entered her home had been moved. Somebody had been here.

Her eyes scanned the entrance hall; nothing was out of place, going through each room she found nobody here. The only thing that was different was a portable DVD player sitting on her coffee table. A post-it note stuck to the top telling her to press play. Cautiously she did.

A man with dark hair and dark eyes appeared, she didn't recognise him. "Officer David, I'm sorry, Agent David after all you are now an American citizen. Congratulations, but might I suggest a TV, then you would really be one of the crowd," he said mockingly.

"We are going to play a little game. Now now, don't frown it's actually very simple all you have to do is find the bomb I planted by 0600. Oh, and that's not counting the one that's contained in this portable player."

The screen turned black before a number five appeared on the screen, then a four. Ziva turned and ran out of the apartment. She had just made it out when the bomb exploded. She was knocked off her feet as debris rained down on her. Her ears ringing she looked back to where her door should have been, half the wall had been destroyed in the blast. Not bothering to check on the level of damage she picked herself up and ran for her car.

-NCIS—

McGee didn't notice anything amiss when he arrived home. He dumped his backpack on the floor and went to flick the kettle on, leaving it to boil he went to turn his computer on. He stopped in his tracks when he saw that it was already on, The media player icon flashing at him, clicking it he waited to see what would be played.

A white man that looked younger than him appeared, "Special Agent McGee, or should I call you Thom E. Gemcity? What, you weren't happy with one career, you had to have two?" The man laughed, "Don't look so confused all will be explained, well not all, I wouldn't want to spoil the ending of this little tale." The man stopped smiling, "There is a bomb under the Navy yard, find it before it goes boom and you might get that recognition you so crave for. But I'd start running now or little Timmy will be in pieces."

McGee was already running for the door by the time the video ended. He was half way down the corridor with his cell phone out as the bomb exploded. He skidded to a halt, pausing for a moment before turning and running back to his apartment.

He could hear his neighbours yelling through the walls but he ignored them. He stood completely stunned as he looked at the space of his home. The whole exterior wall had been destroyed. Live wires dangled from the ceiling, lighting the remains of the apartment up with large sparks. More rubble crumbled down to fall away to the ground outside.

He was too shocked to move, standing in the space that had once been his home, it was all gone.

-NCIS—

Gibbs walked down to his basement. Pulling out the bottle of bourbon he took a quick swig of it before pouring some into an empty jar. His team had just closed a long case. He'd admit, at least to himself that he'd been hard on each of his agents. That second 'B' in his name really showing through. But they'd done it and he was proud of them.

Grabbing the remote for his TV he switched it on, not caring what was showing just needing something to create some noise so he wasn't left alone with his thoughts. He looked up when nothing happened, noticing for the first time a post-it note stuck to the screen.

Dropping the remote he marched over and plucked the note down, holding it towards the light he squinted at the untidy scrawl.

_Agent Gibbs, say hi to my brother._

_BTW nice boat._

Gibbs didn't have time to ponder what the note might mean, his cell started to ring.

"Gibbs," he spoke.

"_Boss, someone just blew up my apartment," said DiNozzo._

"What?" He shouted in alarm. He turned and started running back up the stairs before DiNozzo could say anything else.

"_I said someone just blew up my apartment. But we've got bigger things to worry about?"_

"Like what?" snapped Gibbs, annoyed that his agent would be putting something else before his own well being again.

"_Another bomb."_

"How do you know that?" he was out the house and across the lawn when the explosion went off.

He was thrown to the floor as flames erupted out of the basement windows. Sitting up he looked back to his house. It was still standing, the blast confined to the one room. He knew instantly that whoever had planted the bomb knew what they were doing. Glancing down at the note still clutched in his hand, it still made no sense to him, but he knew it was somehow related.

"DiNozzo, get back to HQ," he ordered.

"_Boss?"_

"Just do it," he snapped hanging up. Two bombs in one night, this was no coincidence. His phone rang again, McGee's number showing on screen.

"McGee, you alright?" he asked.

"F-fine," McGee stuttered, "My apartment-"

"Get to back to NCIS now," Gibbs interrupted his youngest agent. He didn't need to be told what had happened, he could guess.

"_Yes Boss."_

The sound of a car skidding to a halt made Gibbs look away from his burning house.

"I'll meet you there," he told McGee before hanging up and walking towards the red mini.

"Back to base, Ziva," he instructed as he flipped his phone open again so he could call Abby and Ducky.

-NCIS-


	3. Chapter 3

-NCIS-

Tony dropped his gun in his desk drawer and slammed it shut. He couldn't believe it was all gone.

"Are you alright Tony?" asked Ziva, coming to stand in front of him.

"I'm fine," he said a little too quickly to be convincing.

"You just lost everything, you are not fine," said Ziva shaking her head. "And you are bleeding." She pointed to his left arm, where his shirt was torn and stained with blood.

"It's just a scratch," he said ignoring her concern.

"That is not a scratch. Take off your shirt," she ordered.

Tony grinned, though he knew it didn't reach his eyes. "I've been waiting a long time for you to say that again." His grin faded back to a frown, "but this is not the time, we have another bomb to find. Where's Gibbs?"

"MTAC. He is coordinating between Metro and the bomb squad who are at our apartments." She walked back to her desk and pulled out a small first aid kit.

"They won't find much," Tony scoffed thinking back to his charred apartment. "Where's McGee?"

"On his way. Now take off your shirt," she ordered.

"Do as she says, DiNozzo," ordered Gibbs as he marched into the bullpen.

"I'm fine Boss," Tony protested. "We need to find that bomb."

"We will. Now let Ziva fix your arm."

Tony walked away from Ziva who now had the kit in her hands, to stand in front of Gibbs desk. "Boss, do you realise how many government buildings we have to search?"

"DiNozzo," Gibbs said lowly. "Take off your shirt."

The two agents stared at each other, before Tony finally gave in. "Fine," he growled, as he angrily pulled off his shirt to let Ziva look at the cut. He ignored the stab of pain in his arm as the fabric pulled at the wound making it start to bleed again.

"You have a piece of wood embedded in the wound," she told him. Tony didn't answer, only gritted his teeth as she removed the foreign body with a pair of tweezers.

"Hold this," she instructed, pressing a bandage over the wound. Tony rolled his eyes, but did as he was told none the less. He couldn't believe she was making such a fuss over a splinter.

"You tell me if it starts to bleed through both bandages," she said as she wrapped a roller bandage around his upper arm to cover the first bandage.

"Sure, as soon as you let someone look at that cut on your forehead," he countered as he brushed back her fringe to expose a small cut.

"Touché," she smiled. "But my cut has already stopped bleeding."

Tony was interrupted from saying anything else by the sound of the elevator bell sounding and McGee rushing out. Without saying anything to either of them he was behind his desk and tapping away at the keyboard.

"McGee?" asked Gibbs coming to stand in front of the younger agent's desk. When he got no reply he asked again.

"Tim?"

"Sorry boss," said McGee looking up, the softer tone of Gibb's voice snapping him out of his own thoughts. "I just figured out how we can find out who the bomber is," he continued knowing Gibbs wanted an explanation.

"How?" asked Tony putting his tattered shirt back on. "Everything was destroyed."

McGee flinched at Tony's honest words. He didn't want to think about what had just happened, better to keep focused on the task at hand. "The guy put a video message on my computer."

"Which was destroyed," Tony stated again.

"I know that Tony," McGee snapped, scowling at his colleague.

"What have you got McGee?" asked Gibbs trying to defuse the situation before it escalated.

"My computer automatically backs up all files to a remote backup server," said McGee. Seeing the blank looks on his colleagues face he sighed. He hated it when he had to simplify his explanations. Where was Abby when you needed her?

"The video message that the bomber left on my computer has downloaded itself onto the internet. Which means if I log onto the network we can see the original video." He looked down at his computer, tapping some more keys before he looked up at the plasma screen in the middle of the room, where the image of a man was now visible.

Gibbs stood up and walked to the plasma so he could get a better look at the unknown man who had almost killed his team. "Search all databases; I want to know who this guy is," he said pointing to the screen.

"Already on it boss," said McGee tapping more keys. "We have another problem though; the guy said there's a bomb underneath the navy yard."

"We have to find _two_ bombs before 0600," pointed out Ziva, the impossibility of the task showing in her voice.

"No," said Gibbs. "One bomb, DiNozzo search-"

"Searching for buildings on the navy yard with basements," interrupted Tony sitting down at his desk.

"Ziva, start check-"

"Checking the security footage at the navy yard gate to see if this guy came on base," she anticipated walking to her desk.

Gibbs smiled to himself, even under pressure and personal crisis his team could stay on task and get the job done.

* * *

-NCIS—

Gibbs exited the elevator opposite the lab, he could already hear the loud music the forensic scientist liked to listen to blaring from the speakers. He smiled, if Abby was here then she was safe.

Gibbs came to a sudden halt when he entered the lab. Abby was standing very still in her office; she was holding a vase with a single black rose in her outstretched hands. Tears running silently down her cheeks.

"Abby?" he asked cautiously.

Abby didn't answer; she didn't even turn her head to look at him. Gibbs came to stand in front of her. "Don't touch anything," she whispered.

Gibbs bent low so he could get a good look at the vase and what was inside. His eyes widening in shock when he saw a small explosive device floating in the water.

"Any slight movement will detonate it," Abby said, still whispering.

"How long have you been standing here?" Gibbs asked in the same tone.

"Gibbs you need to leave," urged Abby, ignoring Gibbs own question.

"I'm not going anywhere," he growled as he pulled out his cell phone.

* * *

-NCIS—

**AN:** Thanks for reading, I hoped this lives up to espectations. Though I will say I know as much about computers as Gibbs does. I guessed about the 'backup'. Feel free to correct me and I'll edit accordingly. As always your thoughts and opinions are very much welcome.


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: **Thank you for all who read and reviewed, it is much appreciated. Here is the next chapter. Enjoy!

**

* * *

**

"McGee, find Ducky and don't let him leave your side," ordered Gibbs.

"On it, Boss," answered McGee as he tore his eyes away from Abby. He turned and practically sprinted out the lab, almost colliding with Tony as he entered the room.

"Boss, the evacuation is in progress," informed Tony.

"You should have gone too," said Gibbs.

"You can fire me later," huffed Tony as he went to stand next to Abby.

Gibbs shook his head at his senior field agent's lack of self preservation. Ignoring to comment, he tilted his head to the former Mossad agent, indicating for her to follow him away from Abby.

"Abby is correct, the bomb is triggered by a motion detector. Any disturbance in the level of water and it will detonate," Ziva explained with a detachment that hid her concern for the Goth. "It is a very risky type of detonator, there is no guarantee that-"

"Can you disarm it?" cut in Gibbs. He did not need a lecture on detonation techniques today.

"No," she sighed. "Any attempt at trying would disturb the water too much resulting in detonation. I am sorry Gibbs."

"It's okay," said Abby, trying to hide how scared she was. "If you-" she choked on the words. "If you seal the lab door behind you, the blast should be contained."

"Abby, you're not dying," Gibbs insisted.

Abby gave a small smile, "I know your hearing isn't that bad Boss man, Ziva said-"

"I don't care what Ziva said," he yelled. "You. Will. Not. Die. You hear me?"

"Loud and clear," she whispered, the tears starting to run down her cheeks again in silent rivers. She focused on the vase in her hands, slowing her breathing again. She would not move.

"If we can't disarm it, we need to be able to move it," said Gibbs. Looking back at Ziva.

"That is too risky," said Ziva, "Any-"

"Have you got a better idea David?" growled Gibbs. He didn't like this feeling of being helpless. In fact he hated it.

"Pudding," said Tony quietly.

"What?" snapped Gibbs, glaring at his senior field agent.

"We need something like pudding," repeated Tony, crouching in front of the bomb to have a better look.

"DiNozzo-"

"Stay with me Boss," he grinned up at Abby. "We need something to solidify the water enough so that Abby can move and not detonate the bomb, right?" he glanced back at Gibbs and Ziva to see them thinking it over.

"Where would we find pudding?" asked Ziva, not sounding overly convinced.

"Abby, what have you got in here that might work? Come on think, there must be something?" he urged.

Abby was silent for a moment, before answering with a smile. "Calcium sulphate hemihydrate." Her smile grew wider at the blank looks she got in return. "Plaster of paris," she informed them.

"Where Abby?" Gibbs asked. He didn't need any more of an explanation. This was the only idea they had, he'd run with it. He could already see Abby was getting tired, she wouldn't be able to hold still for much longer.

"There's a tub in the cupboard under the window," she directed. "It's a fine white powder."

Gibbs was already on his way before she had finished her sentence and was back within seconds, the correct container in hand.

"That will get heavy Abby," Ziva warned. She did not want the girl to drop the vase because of the added weight.

"I know," Abby said, resigned to what was going to happen.

Gibbs handed the tub over to the senior field agent. Then he placed his hands underneath the vase to help support it, being careful to not jostle Abby's hold.

Tony added the powder slowly; he didn't want to disturb the water. But he could see the strain the added weight was putting on Abby, even with Gibbs help at keeping her steady.

"That's it, there's none left," he said.

"That is not enough," said Ziva coming to take a closer look. "There is still too much water for the mixture to set properly, the vibrations of setting it down could still set off the bomb."

"I know," Abby agreed.

"However," Ziva paused in what she was going to say.

"What, Ziva?" prompted Gibbs when she didn't continue straight away.

"You may have enough time to get far enough away from the device if you were to hold the vase higher and then drop it."

The four people in the room were silent for a moment, all trying to think of another way to help the situation. Abby was the one to break it.

"Lets do it," she said in a tone that she hoped was confident and not showing how scared she was. It was all or nothing now.

"Abs, that's not a lot of time," pointed out Tony.

"I know. But it's a chance, right?"

"Okay, You two out," Gibbs ordered the other two agents. "Abby needs space to run," he continued before either of them could protest, like they usually did.

"We'll be at the door, ready to close it once you get through. Contain the blast," Tony said remembering Abby's earlier words. He ignored the niggling thought that it wasn't enough time, that she'd never make it.

But he gave a quick nod to Abby in support before walking back to the main door of the lab.

"Do not toss the vase up, okay? Only drop it," Ziva instructed her concern showing through before she followed Tony out.

Gibbs felt a slight relief as he watched his agents leave the room. Turning back to face Abby, he asked if she were ready.

"As I'll ever be," she said her fear showing through clearly. There was no way she could even try and hide it now. "You should go to."

"I told you, I'm not going anywhere."

He helped her raise the vase above her head, "I'm going to let go now and keep the sliding door open, okay?"

Abby's answer was only the slight twitch of her lips. Fear making her unable to talk.

Gibbs let go of the vase slowly and stepped away. The sound of the doors seemed deafening in the tense moment.

"On your mark, Abs."

Abby took a steadying breath in, before letting it all out again. She could do this, she had to. "Ready," she took another breath in and let it all out again. It was now or never. "Go." The word came out choked.

She released the vase and simultaneously turned towards the door. Her heart pounding in her chest she was past Gibbs and the sliding door. She was only moments away from safety.

She didn't hear the sliding door close behind her; her whole focus was on the corridor in front of her. She did hear the glass of the door shatter as the explosion ripped through it before something heavy collided with her back.

-NCIS—

* * *

The fire alarms blared though the corridors of NCIS. A man in a grey janitor's uniform, watched from the end of the hallway as four people sat on the floor all staring at the closed door of the forensics lab. A red light flashing above it, warning people of the danger.

He couldn't believe they had all made it, and by the looks of it none of them were hurt. He chuckled to himself as he turned away and started walking towards the staircase. This was going to be a well played game indeed.

-NCIS—


	5. Chapter 5

**AN:** Apologies for the long period of time that has passed since the last update to this tale. Life kinda ran away with me. Thank you to everybody who has read and reviewed so far, it is greatly appreciated.

-NCIS—

* * *

-NCIS-

"I'm fine Ducky, really," said Abbey as she sat impatiently while Ducky wrapped her right hand and wrist in a bandage. "Gibbs actually caused more damage than the explosion when he tackled me," she continued, nodding her head up and down rapidly. "And Tony, Tony had amazing reflexes, with closing the door. You should have seen it."

"There, we are all done, my dear," said Ducky, smiling at the girl. "Now, Anthony let me look at your arm."

"Why? Ziva already prodded me."

"Exactly my boy, taking out that foreign body could have done more damage. You should have gone to the ER,"

"Ducky it was just a splinter, the wound does not even need stitches," said Ziva, offended that the doctor did not think she was competent enough to tend to her partner.

"That may be, but you should have known better," scolded Ducky.

"Duck, he's fine. He's got a job to do," snapped Gibbs. They had less than nine hours to find that bomb and they were no closer to locating it or identifying the bomber than they were three hours ago.

"Ooh Duck man, look at this," chirped Abby from the plasma screen beside Gibbs desk. She was beaming at the footage of the security camera positioned outside her lab. "Look, look," she pointed.

The screen showed Tony slamming the lab door shut a split second after Abby and Gibbs were through. "Look, look," she pointed again, bouncing up and down.

"Are you alright Abby," asked Tony coming to stand behind her. Everybody else paying her no heed.

"I'm fine, totally fine," she said quickly bobbing her head up and down.

"You sure? I mean you were just holding a bomb."

"I-" she hesitated. "I'm fine Tony."

Tony didn't believe her for a second, she was too happy. Even for Abby. "Abs-"

"Tony look," she interrupted, going all serious.

"Abby I really-"

"No," she shouted. "Look," she pointed at the screen again. The image showed her, Gibbs, Tony and Ziva all sitting on the corridor floor outside her lab. But that wasn't what got her attention. It was the man at the end of the corridor.

"I don't know that man," she whispered.

"Abs, you can't know everybody in the building," said Tony, though he didn't sound sure.

Abby was shaking her head, "I know all the people who have access to my floor, and he's not one of them."

"Maybe he's new?" shrugged Tony sounding less convinced.

"I don't believe in coincidences," she muttered reciting one of Gibbs rules.

"Me neither." He took a hold of Abby's shoulders and steered her back towards Gibbs desk and pushed her down into the chair. "Can you zoom in? Get a better look?"

"Of course," she said sounding more confident and like her usual self.

Tony looked at the stilled image, "That's our bomber," he sighed, he'd recognise that face anywhere now.

"You think that's how he knows so much about you? Because he works here."

"No, like you said. You don't know him, so he's not an employee," Tony sighed. "Boss, we have a problem," he practically shouted over to Gibbs who was standing in front of the other plasma screen.

"Meet our bomber," he pointed to the magnified image on screen, getting everybody's attention.

"McGee I need that ID," said Gibbs.

"It's still running,"

"Well how the hell did this guy get in the damn building?" he snapped. Nobody answered all looking down at the floor. This case was personal and they were getting nowhere.

McGee's computer bleeped, bringing everybody out of their troubled thoughts. "Boss, I've got an ID," piped up McGee. He clicked a couple of keys before the drivers licence of a Roger Bleakly appeared on the plasma. This was their guy.

"Roger Bleakly, thirty-two years old, lives in Arlington," said McGee.

Gibbs turned to look at the younger agent, waiting for more information.

"That's it, Boss. No job history, no credit cards, there is nothing else."

"DiNozzo with me, McGee keep searching, Ziva keep looking through that security footage, I want to know where this guy went," Gibbs ordered.

"Boss, we need to find that bomb," protested Tony.

"Teams are already searching the Yard, but we need more information, best place to find that-"

"Is this guys place," anticipated Tony. He knew this was the right thing to do, but he didn't have to like it.

"Abby, Ducky, don't leave the building. You have to go to the head take Ziva or McGee with you. No one goes anywhere alone. Understood?" Gibbs commanded, he didn't want anybody else put in jeopardy.

Abby nodded her head up and down in rapid succession.

"Jethro?" questioned Ducky.

"Duck, don't leave the building," Gibbs urged.

"Wasn't going to. But I'd like to point out that he's already got in the building once. He's entered all your homes. How is staying here any safer?"

Gibbs didn't answer. In all honesty he didn't know how staying in the building would be any safer. But at least he knew where they both were. "Don't leave the bullpen." He called back as he headed towards the elevator, DiNozzo on his six.

-NCIS—

* * *

-NCIS-

Gibbs pulled the car to a stop outside a one storey house in a suburban area. Looking at it, there was nothing different than the other houses surrounding it. The lawn was neat and tidy, the flower beds were pristine, and the American flag hung in perfect condition from the porch.

"Our bomber lives here?" asked Tony disbelievingly as he got out of the car. Gibbs didn't answer as he started walking up the driveway. "So how we gonna do this?"

Gibbs only answer was pulling out his SIG and crouching low as he got closer to the front door. Tony followed suit, until both agents were standing on opposite sides of the front door. A silent nod from Gibbs told Tony when it was time to move.

He stepped in front of the door and aimed a hard kick, breaking the lock; he then took a quick step to the side making sure he wasn't in the line of fire.

Gibbs entered first, scanning the immediate area for any hostiles. DiNozzo followed close behind him, pealing to the left to check another room.

"Clear," shouted Gibbs, letting his partner know there was nobody here.

"Clear," called back Tony. "DiNozzo coming in," he added letting Gibbs know he was coming back into the front room so he wouldn't get shot.

"Nobody's been here in awhile," said Tony as he holstered his gun.

"Start searching," said Gibbs as he pulled on a pair of gloves. They needed to find some more information on this guy.

-NCIS-

* * *

-NCIS-

"Boss, you need to come down to the basement," said Tony into his cell phone as he looked down at the bench in front of him. There were pictures of each of them, of their apartments and of the Navy Yard.

"_On my way,"_ said Gibbs before he hung up. If DiNozzo said he had to see something then he didn't need to ask questions.

Tony slipped his phone back into his pocket before rifling through the pieces of paper, hoping to find anything that would tell them where the bomb was.

"What have you got?" asked Gibbs as he descended the stairs. His attention being drawn immediately to the far wall where five pictures were tacked. One of DiNozzo, David, McGee, Abby and himself. Each picture was taken from a distance and unnoticed by the observed.

"This guy has pictures of us going back years," answered Tony handing a photograph of him and Jeanne to Gibbs. "This is how he knows so much about us; he's been compiling information for years."

Gibbs started sorting through the papers, there seemed to be no order to them. The photos were mixed in with times and dates. Notes were written on everything from a legal pad to sticky-notes and napkins.

"What the hell did we do to this guy?" asked Tony in frustration.

"Start bag and tagging, i'll shoot and sketch," said Gibbs ignoring his agent's question. "We'll go through it back at the office." Gibbs picked up a laptop that was buried beneath a stack of building schematics and maps, he'd leave that for McGee and Abby to go through.

"Shit," muttered Tony from the other side of the room. He had just scooped up another pile of papers to reveal a circuit board attached to a block of C4. But with no visible timer devise, there was no way to tell when the bomb would go off. "Time to go Boss."

The two agents loaded their arms up with as much as they could carry and high-tailed it up the stairs and out of the house. They were thrown to the ground as the house exploded behind them. Debris raining down on them.

The two men forgot about what was in their hands and used their arms to protect their heads from shrapnel.

"I'm really starting to hate this guy," growled Tony, as he pushed himself up into a sitting position once the pieces of the house had stopped falling on them.

Gibbs huffed, "Only starting?"

-NCIS—

* * *

**AN:** Ducky's line to Ziva is for you, **CrimeDramaFanatic. **Because you were right. Oh and I know nothing about Washington DC, only what I learn on TV. If I'm wrong, feel free to correct me.


	6. Chapter 6

**AN:** Thank you to everybody who has reviewed, you guys are amazing. Your thoughts and comments are much appreciated. Enjoy!

-NCIS—

Roger Bleakly hummed quietly to himself as he finished connecting wires to his circuit board. This would be the end point, no more running for team Gibbs. That thought made him smile.

A soft beep from a small laptop on the floor got his attention; he put down his tools and picked it up. He clicked a couple of keys so that a video screen appeared. Laughing to himself when he saw Special Agent Gibbs and DiNozzo in his basement.

"Aren't we clever little agents. So you know who I am," he said to himself. It was sooner than he had anticipated but he could still make his grand plan work.

He clicked a couple more keys on the laptop, pulling up a stop clock. He watched the screen carefully waiting until one of them noticed the bomb. He didn't want either agent dead just yet; he had more plans for them.

He smiled when Agent DiNozzo looked directly into the camera and therefore directly at the bomb. The look of shock on the man's face made him smile inside. Clicking the last few keys the timer began its countdown. They would have enough time to get out of the house, just.

"Better run fast little agents." He put the laptop down and turned back to his circuit board. No he didn't want the agents dead, not just yet at least. He had bigger plans for them.

"You won't get away with this," said a man chained in the corner.

Bleakly didn't turn around as he spoke, he had a task to complete and his time scale had just decrease. "And why would you think that Mr. Palmer?"

Jimmy stayed silent as he glared daggers at his capturer. He'd been handcuffed to this pipe for more hours than he could count and he had no idea why. But seeing the way this man reacted to Gibbs and DiNozzo he could hazard a guess.

"It wouldn't be that you have the up most faith in one Leroy Jethro Gibbs would it?" continued Bleakly. "Or maybe it's his plucky sidekick one Anthony DiNozzo?" Bleakly laughed. "You see Jimmy, my brother had faith in those two as well, and it got him killed."

"So this is all for revenge?" Jimmy asked. He knew both Gibbs and DiNozzo had their fair share of enemies but a bomb in this building didn't seem logical.

"Not all of it," shrugged Bleakly as he turned back to his circuit board, he used cable ties to tie it to a large industrial metal barrel.

"You're crazy," spat Jimmy.

"Come now Mr. Palmer, with all that education you have, the best you could come up with is 'you're crazy'?"

"Sociopathic, psychotic, delusional," gave out Jimmy as he pulled at the handcuffs. His wrists were already rubbed raw, but right now he didn't care. He just wanted out of this damn room and as far away from this nut-job as he could get.

"That's more like it Mr. Palmer," smiled Bleakly. "And I'll have to agree with all of that, except maybe the delusional part. I know exactly what I'm doing."

"Yeah, you're going to blow a hole in the building," huffed Jimmy letting his arms sag again. There was no way he was going to get out of these cuffs on his own.

"Not just the building," muttered Bleakly as he crouched down in front of him. Pulling a phone out of his back pocket of his jeans he held it in front of Jimmy. It was his.

"You've been here for almost six hours now, and not one phone call. Why is that?" asked Bleakly. "Everybody else has been rounded up and secured in the NCIS building but not you? Why?"

Jimmy stayed silent, he honestly didn't know. And he didn't want to think to hard about the reasons why.

"You see Mr. Palmer you're the weak link," Bleakly stood up again and walked back to his device, placing the phone on top of the barrel.

"You're with team Gibbs but you're not _on_ the team. The Autopsy Gremlin gets all the danger and none of the protection," stated Bleakly.

"How do you know that name?" asked Jimmy in shock. He'd never told anybody what Tony called him.

"I know everything there is to know about you Mr. Palmer. I know everything there is to know about Anthony DiNozzo and everybody else in the MCRT of NCIS," bragged Bleakly as he began to secure the barrel to the gas pipe going along the opposite wall.

"Who are you?" asked Jimmy all the more confused. How could anybody know that much about all of them?

"I'm just a relative of the deceased that wasn't paid his due," answered Bleakly as he packed up his tools and left.

Jimmy listened to the sound of footsteps getting further and further away. He had no way to escape; he had no way of contacting anybody and Bleakly had left his phone on the barrel, to taunt that fact to him.

The bomber was right, he was the weak link and he was alone.

-NCIS—


	7. Chapter 7

AN: I am so sorry for the delay in the update. I am a bad person, I know. My life ran away from me. (If you find it, please return it ASAP) Enjoy this next instalment, I hope it doesn't disappoint.

-NCIS-

Tony threw down the map he had been studying and stalked towards the window. The team had been going through the papers he and Gibbs had retrieved from Bleakly's basement for the last several hours and still they had nothing.

He could see the reflection of the clock that was counting down until 0600 McGee had put on the plasma. Right now Tony could think of nothing better than pulling out his SIG and shooting it.

He hung his head down low, leaning his forehead against the window pane. They had three hours left until another bomb went off and they were still no closer to finding it. They had every available agent out there searching, but it just wasn't enough.

He turned to look up at MTAC, the director had gone in there hours ago to talk to the other agencies directors to try and get more man power. But that didn't look like it was going so well.

He was brought out of his thoughts by McGee cursing rather loudly. He turned around to face the rest of the bullpen. It was unusual for McGee to use foul language, he was always so polite. Even after all these years as an agent. Nothing like Gibbs, nothing like himself.

"McGee?" asked Gibbs looking up from his own pile of papers.

"Boss, I know who our bomber is," said McGee.

The rest of the team was now looking at McGee, waiting for him to continue. This could be the big break they needed.

"Roger Bleakly is the half brother of Lance Corporal Daniel Farrow," explained McGee.

"That's not possible?" pointed out Tony coming to stand in front of McGee's desk.

"Trust me Tony, it is."

"Who is Lance Corporal Daniel Farrow?" asked Ziva.

"Before your time with us my dear," said Ducky quietly from his chair opposite her.

"So who is he?" she asked again when nobody gave a more detailed explanation.

"He's dead," snapped Tony.

Ziva looked between the members of her team. From Tony's anger at hearing the news, to Ducky's sigh of resignation. Abby had pulled her knees close to her chest where she sat on the floor in front of Gibbs desk. And Gibbs showed nothing, blank as ever.

"Will somebody please explain who this man is?" snapped Ziva becoming more impatient. It was not like her team to be so closed off with information, well unless it was Gibbs.

"He was the lead witness in a case. He was in logistics, information from his department was being leaked," explained McGee as he tapped some keys and put Farrow's picture on the plasma.

Tony laughed harshly, "Turns out he was the leak. He was playing us. It was just another game to him-"

"Tim, Farrow didn't have a brother," said Abby in a voice no more than a whisper, interrupting Tony's rant.

"According to the navy he didn't," explained McGee. "But I've been looking in to the house that Tony and Gibbs found all this in," he indicated the papers that were spread out on the other three desks and across the floor in front of Abby. "A Miss Amy Bleakly lived there until she died eight years ago. She had a son called Roger. On Roger's birth certificate is the name Andrew Farrow. Who is in turn Lance Corporal Daniel Farrow's father."

There was stunned silence in the squad room. Everybody thinking over the same rule that Gibbs had about there being no such thing as coincidences.

"Did Farrow know that he had a brother?" asked Gibbs breaking the silence.

"I'm going to go with yes," said McGee. He clicked some more keys and a photo of Roger Bleakly and Daniel Farrow appeared on screen. They were both smiling at the camera, arms around each other's shoulders.

"Alright, but why is Bleakly so mad?" asked Ziva. "What did we do to him?"

"Because I shot him," snapped Tony. "I killed Farrow." He turned and walked towards the window again. Tension running through his body, the memories of that old case running through his mind. Farrow played with them alright, he had them running in circles before they had caught on to his game.

"We shot him," corrected Gibbs.

"I believe you shot a corpse," smiled Tony turning back to them. But there was nothing friendly about this smile.

Gibbs was about to say something again but Tony cut ahead of him.

"Any idea where Bleakly put the bomb?" Right now he didn't care about family history, he just wanted to find the next bomb. Then possibly put a bullet in Bleakly for the trouble he'd caused.

"A few," answered McGee.

"A few? Damn it McGee we have three hours until that bomb explodes we don't have-"

"DiNozzo," interrupted Gibbs in a warning tone. He needed his agents focused, loosing their tempers wouldn't help their situation.

"There are a couple of places Bleakly mentions more than once," continued McGee pulling up a map of the Navy Yard on the plasma screen and highlighting the places of interest.

Six dots lit up.

"That's too many," growled DiNozzo in frustration.

"DiNozzo, take a walk," ordered Gibbs.

Tony faced Gibbs about to argue the order but one look from their leader and the words died in his mouth. He turned around and stalked off towards the elevator.

-NCIS-

Tony paced the break room, damn that SOB. Six bombs in six hours. This was all a game to Bleakly. Those bombs could have killed every single one of them. But they didn't. Why?

"Because he wanted it that way," said Tony out loud to himself.

"Who wanted it?" asked Ziva from behind him.

Tony spun around startled by the appearance of the Israeli woman. He hadn't heard her approach; of course that was nothing new.

"Bleakly. He warned all of us, he wanted us to escape those bombs," Tony explained.

"Not Abby, she was not meant to survive," pointed out Ziva. "Why make sure she died?"

Tony was silent for a while as he continued to pace again. Thinking over that part of the puzzle.

"Abby figured it out," smiled Tony. "On the old case,.She was the one that realised Farrow was one of the bad guys," said Tony to Ziva.

"And Gibbs? He was not meant to survive his bomb."

Tony was silent again, returning to his pacing. That he didn't understand, it didn't matter what Gibbs said. It was him, Tony DiNozzo that had made the kill shot, he'd killed Farrow. So why not kill him?

Then it hit him. The answer.

"This isn't about Farrow, this is about Bleakly. He's playing a game, just like his damn brother." He laughed, but it was empty, hollow. "He wanted to take out the main players. If he took out Abby and her lab we have no way to analyse forensics. We're at a disadvantage.

"Gibbs is our leader," he said like it was obvious. "Take out him and we'd be off the case. The agency would be looking for a murderer not a bomber."

Ziva looked up at her dishevelled partner. He had a gleam in his eyes now that showed determination. She couldn't help but smile slightly; this was the man she knew. The old Tony DiNozzo. not the one that lost control.

"I know where our bomb is," he grinned as he practically ran back to the squad room, Ziva hot on his tail.

"McGee, pull up the video you were sent," he practically shouted as he came into the bullpen.

"What?" asked McGee, confused.

"Just do it McGee," snapped Tony. He didn't want to explain right now. He needed to be sure first. He had to be sure.

Gibbs inclined his head slightly indicating for McGee to go ahead.

Tony watched the video, not saying anything. When it ended he moved to Gibbs' desk pushing papers aside until he found what he was looking for.

"DiNozzo!" shouted Gibbs, irritated at his senior field agent, and his erratic behaviour.

Tony picked up the small evidence bag that contained the post-it note Gibbs had been sent. Focusing on the line _nice boat._

"I know where the bomb is."

"You said that already," snipped Ziva. "So where is it?"

Tony ignored her, focusing on Gibbs, "Bleakly is playing with us. He gave us clues in the messages he left. He wants us to find that bomb." He turned to McGee. "I need a building on the Navy Yard, abandoned, civilian company that builds boats with two names in the title."

"Tony, the guy said a government building," pointed out McGee, unconvinced with Tony's logic.

"I know," Tony waved the comment away. "Trust me, it's a civilian company but they had contracts with the Navy."

"Do it McGee," ordered Gibbs.

McGee did as he was told, everybody silent in anticipation. Tony was practically bouncing on the balls of his feet.

"Okay," McGee said after a while. "There is one company that fits those parameters by the name of Paxton and Son, they have a building not far from here, but they recently moved to Norfolk."

"That's it," Tony shouted as he rushed to his desk to grab his gun.

"DiNozzo, hold up," said Gibbs.

"Trust me Gibbs, this is the place."

"DiNozzo-"

"Gibbs, in the video Bleakly sent me he mentioned movies," Tony interrupted. He carried on explaining before Gibbs could ask anything else. "Bill Paxton played the character Lt. Commander Mike Dahlgren in the movie U-571. He was also in the 1990 movie Navy SEALs." When nobody else looked convinced he snapped.

"Look, this guy could have blown up my entire building, but he didn't. There were never civilian casualties. At any of our buildings."

"So he's what? A conscientious bomber?" asked Abby getting up from the floor.

"No, it was another clue. Civilian. Any government building would be swarming with people. He only wants to hurt us. He hurts us it stays in NCIS jurisdiction, he hurts civilians it becomes an FBI case. That's too much attention."

"What if you're wrong?" asked Gibbs.

"If I'm wrong, I'm wrong." He threw his arms up in the air, frustrated with his team, with Gibbs. "We still have agents scouring the other places," he pleaded with Gibbs. "Boss, I'm going crazy shifting through all these papers. He wanted us to find all this. It's just another roadblock. Just another red-herring for him to gloat over. Just like his brother."

Gibbs watched his senior field agent carefully. He knew he had taken the Farrow case personally. Farrow had nearly caused Tony to shoot an innocent officer with all his mind games. He knew this was personal for the young man.

"Grab your gear," smiled Gibbs.

Tony smirked slightly, thankful that he was being trusted. McGee and Ziva were up and getting out their weapons. They didn't need telling twice.

"Abby, Ducky keep going through all this," Gibbs indicated the papers. "Call me if you find anything," he called as he led te way to the elevator, his agents right behind him.

-NCIS-

AN: I Hope you didn't find Tony's character too OOC.


	8. Chapter 8

**AN: **I do apologise for the long wait in which all you amazing readers have had for this next chapter. I know I apoligised at the top of the last chapter for the very same reason - life got away from me. Plus, I was having some difficulity getting this chapter 'just right'. Put the two together and you get an exceedingly long wait. So without further ado, the next chapter. I hope it reaches all your high expectations...

-NCIS-

Tires squealed as the blue sedan came to a halt, four doors opened simultaneously as the occupants got out, guns in hand.

"Ziva, McGee take the back," ordered Gibbs, already moving. "DiNozzo, with me."

Ziva took point as she and McGee ran to the back of the building. They entered the warehouse through a service door, coming into the main shop floor of the place. It was empty.

No machines, no desks, no forgotten tools. A few chains hung from tracks on the ceiling but other than that it was clean, and dark. The few windows in the place were boarded up, letting little light into the place.

Ziva raised an eyebrow as she pulled out her flashlight holding it against her gun in a classic hold. McGee did the same as they walked into the middle of the room. Scanning the area for any incendiary device or their suspect Roger Bleakly. They found neither.

They continued to walk towards the opposite side of the warehouse where the only other door in the room was situated.

-NCIS-

Gibbs and Tony reached the front door of the building; they entered into a narrow corridor that split into two directions. Gibbs indicated for DiNozzo to go right while he went left.

His gun out, he slowly swept through the empty offices. They were all empty, no furniture, no bombs and no Bleakly.

"You're going the wrong way," said a sing–songy voice from further down the corridor.

Gibbs stepped back into the corridor to see Bleakly standing there, his hands in his pockets, smiling.

"Don't move Bleakly. You're under arrest," Gibbs shouted.

"You just don't know how to die do you?" laughed Bleakly. "You can't even follow some simple clues. It was so obvious, you go down the stairs and then boom." Bleakly continued to laugh. "Damn, maybe I was wrong, maybe my brother was wrong? "

"Put your hands up where I can see them," Gibbs ordered as he advanced on Bleakly.

"Sure, sure," Bleakly shrugged, all the time smiling like a mad man. "I can do that."

Gibbs didn't like how Bleakly seemed so calm, so in different about his current predicament.

"But I can also do this," said Bleakly as he thrust his arm out and grabbed the heavy cloth that covered the nearest window. Pulling it down, the early morning sun shone into Gibbs eyes, momentarily blinding him.

Gibbs fired two shots, before he could see again. Bleakly was gone.

Gibbs started quickly down the corridor, turning a corner he saw an open door, leading outside. Scanning the outside area, a truck went speeding past him, almost knocking him down. Gibbs fired two more shots at the vehicle, but Bleakly didn't slow down.

Gibbs ran for his own car, dropping his gun on the passenger seat as he shot after Bleakly. He would not let that scum bag get away.

-NCIS-

Tony nodded in conformation as he went down the right hand corridor. The corridor had one door leading off it and one turn. He checked the door first, looking through the small window he saw it led into the main warehouse, he caught a glimpse of Ziva and McGee before the door they had entered closed behind them, plunging them into darkness.

Moving to the second corridor he found that again there was only one door. Pushing it open he found a set of stairs.

"Well he did say under the Navy Yard," he muttered to himself as he pulled out his flashlight and stepped into the darkness.

There were four flights of stairs and no doors leading off until he reached the bottom. He toed the door open, shifting into the next corridor. It was cold down here, his footsteps echoing on the stone floor, no matter how quietly he tried to step. The walls and ceiling had pipes running across them. Tony could hear the creaking of the metal as they contracted. He listened carefully for any other sounds. Nothing.

There were several doors leading off this corridor. Some of the rooms they opened into were empty, others held old crates and some were control rooms for whatever the pipes were still pumping. Which was where he found the most surprising thing.

"Well, it's about time," sighed Jimmy Palmer in relief.

"I thought you were on vacation?" smiled Tony.

-NCIS—


	9. Chapter 9

**AN-** So I finally found some free time to get this too you. I hope it doesn't disappoint.

-NCIS-

"I was," growled Palmer in frustration.

"Huh," shrugged Tony. "How long you been stuck here?"

"Long enough to really need a bathroom break," snapped Palmer as he rattled the handcuffs that secured him to a pipe.

Tony placed his gun on the ground as he knelt next to Palmer. Taking a look at the handcuffs he realised that there would not be enough space between the lock and the wall for him to get his hands between.

"You're gonna have to hold on until Ziva gets here," smiled Tony as he picked his gun up again and stood up. Turning his back on Palmer he walked to the other side of the small room to where several metal barrels were stacked.

"I'm assuming you being here, means Bleakly was here too?" asked Tony as he looked around for any wires.

"If you mean the crazy guy that knocked me out and kidnapped me, then yes. He was here," answered Palmer.

"Did he say anything?" asked Tony as he crouched down to peer between the barrels.

"He..."

"What?" asked Tony turning to look at Palmer when he didn't continue his sentence.

"He said I was the weak link. Said I let the team down," muttered Palmer not looking at Tony now.

Tony smiled, "Well that's just crap."

"What?" asked Palmer stunned.

"How could Black Lung be the weak link? You've never let us down, never not answered my calls and always had my back. That's not a weak link, not in my book."

Palmer smiled at the rare compliment. "So who is this guy?"

"Roger Bleakly, brother of a dead man who thinks we owe him," growled Tony in disgust.

"That's-"

Palmer was cut off by Ziva and McGee coming into the room, guns raised.

"Ziva, handcuffs," pointed Tony.

Ziva holstered her weapon as she walked over to Palmer, pulling out her lock picks as she went.

"What we got?" asked McGee coming up behind Tony to look at the barrels.

"Don't know, but I'm about to find out," Tony smiled as he holstered his gun and pulled out his knife.

"Tony you sure about this, maybe we should just call the bomb squad,"

"Good idea, Probie," nodded Tony. "Take Palmer to the car then call them. There's no signal down here."

The distinctive click of the handcuffs lock snapping open echoed in the room.

"Tony..."

"Take Palmer and go, we need that bomb squad, remember," ordered Tony as he tried to be reassuring.

McGee didn't say anything in return. Only nodded before helping Palmer off the floor then leading the way back to the surface and to safety.

The two remaining agents didn't speak as they both looked at the barrels. Tony still had his knife in hand. But he didn't move, he knew Ziva had more experience with these things. He'd wait.

"We need to look inside," Ziva finally said.

"Yes we do," nodded Tony as he held out his knife for the woman.

Ziva took the knife with a small smile, heading to the middle barrel. She stopped just before touching the top.

"What's the problem?" asked Tony concerned.

"We have no idea what may be in here," she whispered.

"So let's open it and find out," urged Tony.

"Tony, we could set off the whole bomb just by touching the case," explained Ziva.

"I doubt it," smirked Tony.

Ziva raised an eyebrow in surprise.

"Bleakly likes to play games, he wouldn't blow us up without us seeing what is about to blow us up," explained Tony.

"I hope you are right," sighed Ziva as she used the tip of the knife to prise the lid off the centre barrel. Handing Tony's knife back to him she then lowered the lid to the floor.

"Oh my," whispered Ziva.

"What? What is it?" asked Tony in concern.

"Just by this first look, I can already see two trip wires, three decoys and I do believe that there is a trap," she said pointing into the barrel.

"Well can you disarm it?" asked Tony.

"It may take some time," she said quietly.

"Ziva, we don't have time. Can you disarm it?" he ground out.

"Maybe but you will have to come hold the circuit," she said as she reached into the barrel.

Tony looked at the circuit which was attached by six different coloured wires to the inside of the barrel. Of all the times he had watched Ziva de-arm bombs she had never asked him to hold it. He couldn't decide if that was a good omen or a bad one.

He held his hands out and waited for Ziva to place the circuit in his hands.

"Do not move," Ziva warned. "Any slight movement may trigger it to explode."

"You're telling me now," growled Tony through gritted teeth.

"Better late than never," Ziva whispered as she took out one of her own knives.

She used the point of the blade to lift up part of the casing that covered one end.

"We have a timer," said Ziva.

"How long do we have?" asked Tony trying to get a look.

"Don't. Move." Warned Ziva as Tony shifted slightly. "If the timer is correct then we have less than one hour."

"If?"

"The timer may be another decoy," Ziva explained.

"Can you disarm it?"

"I'm working on it," Ziva said barely above a whisper.

"Work faster."

The two agents descended into silence while Ziva poked around at the many visible wires on the board.

"Okay, I think I have it," said Ziva pulling at a red wire.

"You think?" asked Tony, concerned with Ziva's lack of certainty.

"Well, I'm either correct or…" Ziva trailed off, not wanting to finish that sentence.

"Do it," said Tony sounding more certain than he felt.

Ziva let out a long breath as she focused on the wire. All her attention now on that one wire in front of her. This could be it, the end.

Ziva cut the wire, pausing in place, waiting.

"Did you do it?" asked Tony, his eyes scrunched shut.

"Yes."

"We're not dead?"

"No. We are not dead," breathed Ziva as she lowered her hands.

"Great," breathed Tony as he placed the circuit board back on top of the barrel.

Something bleeped. Tony turned back to the circuit. "What's that?" he asked.

"I do not know, but it is not coming from this circuit," pointed Ziva.

"Crap," Tony walked to the other barrels, pulling off the lids. In the third barrel he found another circuit. He reached in and pulled it out.

"Careful Tony," urged Ziva.

A large flashing timer was counting down from fifteen minutes.

"Can you disarm this one?" asked Tony as he placed the device on the floor.

The timer started to count down at an accelerated rate when it touched the cold surface of the floor. Tony quickly picked it back up again, stopping the timer at five minutes. No more counting down.

"What is so funny?" asked Ziva confused as she watched Tony smile at the second timer. She did not see anything funny about their situation.

"I played right into his hands," laughed Tony.

"We played," Ziva corrected.

"You need to go."

"I am not going anywhere," said Ziva.

"Ziva," he warned.

"Be quiet, I am trying to concentrate," she snapped as she started to poke at the circuit in Tony's hands.

Tony huffed in response.

"I can slow it down," Ziva said after a while.

"What?"

"I have seen this type of timer before."

The two agents stared at each other, in that moment nothing else mattered.

"Do you trust me?" she asked her whole focus on DiNozzo.

"Yes," he practically whispered.

"Good," she cut another wire. The slow beeping of the timer stopped.

Tony looked down at the timer, it had stopped.

Three minutes and two seconds.

They stared at the clock, a minute passed before the next second ticked over.

Three minutes and one second.

"You put that bomb down and it will go back to real time," she explained.

Tony smiled, "You better get going then."

"We're not going anywhere," said McGee walking back into the room.

"McGee, I thought I told you to go top side," said Tony.

"Palmer is safe, bomb squad is on the way,"

"And Gibbs?"

"Car's gone," he said, shrugging. "I tried calling him, it went straight to voicemail."

Another beep from the bomb had all three agents looking at the timer.

Three minutes.

-NCIS-

AN - I hope Palmer wasn't too OOC for you. The next chapter will be a sort of 're-run' of the first chapter/prologue. We are now back to the where it all started. (Damn it took me long enough.)


	10. Chapter 10

AN – Italics are Tony's POV from the first chapter.

-NCIS—

_Tony stared at the bomb in his hand. Three minutes. That was all he had. Three minutes to climb four flights of stairs, run down three corridors and pass through five doors. Nothing too hard, really. Except of course that to do all that he had to let go of the bomb which would mean the timer that was on currently counting down at a second a minute would go back to real time. That would be one hundred and eighty seconds to go all that distance._

_The three agents stared at each other, none of them wanting to back down. "Alright," said Ziva giving in. "But don't you dare leave it till the last moment to let go. You give yourself as much time as you can. You hear me?" she said jabbing him in the chest with one finger._

_Tony grinned widely, "You better get going then."_

_McGee nodded grabbing a hold of Ziva's arm and pulling her towards the door, pushing her ahead of him, he turned back to Tony. "You better be right behind us."_

Ziva was two steps ahead of him, pushing through the final door and into the parking lot. They were both shouting at Palmer to get down. He only looked at them in confusion.

_Two minutes and fifty-three seconds. He had two minutes and fifty-three seconds to climb four flights, go down three corridors and pass through five doors. The clock ticked over to two minutes and fifty-three seconds._

Both agents grabbed Palmer and pushed him to the ground behind the nearest dumpster.

_Dropping the bomb he started to run. The first door was open, skidding round the corner he dashed down the first corridor towards the stairwell. Flinging open the second door he started to climb._

"Where is he?" mumbled McGee, pushing himself up to see around the dumpster and watch the warehouse.

_Grabbing the rail he propelled himself around the corner and up the second flight. His blood pumping through his body, pounding inside his head. His legs burned with the effort, his knees screamed under pressure._

"Is he coming?" asked Ziva from where she lay, still holding Palmer beneath her.

_Third flight. Fourth flight. His breath coming in harsh gasps as he pushed himself harder and harder. Two minutes and fifty-three seconds, ran through his head. Two minutes and fifty-three seconds._

"Damn it Tony," growled McGee in frustration. Tony and his damn hero complex. He was as bad as Gibbs. Getting to his feet he started running back to the warehouse.

_He was at the top of the stairs, reaching for the handle of the third door, only pausing for a moment as he wrenches it open and passes through, and then he's running again. Legs pumping, arms swinging he's on the second corridor. Not much further to go now. He's almost there, he's almost there._

"McGee!" Ziva screamed as she jumped to her feet and watched her partner start moving back towards the building.

_He can see the fourth door, using his shoulder he crashes into it. His momentum not halting, he carries on going, flinging himself round the last corner, he slips. _

_His left knee crashes into the floor, the pain barely registers as he collides with the opposite wall. Cursing himself for wearing his designer shoes today._

McGee heard Ziva shout his name but he ignored it. He had to help Tony.

_Scrambling up he starts to run again. The fifth door. The last door, it's in sight. He made it, he actually made it. Putting on an extra burst of speed, he pushes himself those extra few metres. _

Tires screeched as a car came barrelling into the parking lot. McGee stopped running; his gun out and pointed at the unexpected visitor.

_Two minutes and fifty-three seconds and he's pushing open that final door, the sunlight cuts across his eyes as he carries on running. He's not safe yet._

McGee let out a sigh of relief as Gibbs jumped out the car. His attention snaps back to the building as the side door bursts open. Tony's running at full speed towards them.

_He's running across the parking lot as the ground begins to tremble, then he's flying. Flying in a world of heat as his vision goes white. Two minutes and fifty three seconds. He can't feel anything, and then everything goes black._

The building erupts as a wave of heat throws McGee off his feet. He crashes to the ground, landing on his back. He struggles to breathe as the air gets knocked out of him.

_Zero._


	11. Chapter 11

**AN** – I know this is really really short, but I just had to get it out there. Hope you like, and thanks to all of you who have stuck with me on this epic ride. Enjoy!

-NCIS-

Gibbs yanked the steering wheel of the car and made a hard right; he could see the truck Bleakly was driving up ahead. He pressed his foot harder on the gas pedal to try and close the gap between the two vehicles. He had to close the gap.

Bleakly made a sharp left turn, Gibbs quickly followed, all the time not letting up on the gas. He was gaining; the distance was getting shorter and shorter.

Gibbs continued to follow, making another right turn round a particularly sharp bend, when he suddenly had to stomp hard on the break. Both hands gripping the wheel tightly, to keep the vehicle under control.

The tires of the sedan screeched as he skidded to a halt, smoke emitting from the breaks, obscuring his view of the road ahead. His last view of the truck that Bleakly was driving was it hitting the curb as high speed. Bleakly losing control as it skidded from left to right.

Left to right.

Bleakly over compensating, pulling to hard left on the wheel. The truck tipping over onto two wheels. It hovered slightly before crashing over onto its roof, then rolling over and over and over again.

When the smoke cleared, Gibbs watched as the truck skidded on its roof further down the road before smashing hood first with a sickening halt into the wall of a building. A cloud of dust debris, obscuring the car from view again.

Gibbs was out the car, his gun in hand as he approached the over turned vehicle. The strong smell of gasoline filling the air. Circling around to the driver's side of the overturned vehicle, he caught sight of a small flame on the underside of the car. Without thinking, Gibbs turned away from the vehicle and ran back to his own. Leaping over the hood of his car to crouch just in time as Bleakly's car exploded.

Gibbs raised his arms over his head to protect himself from any falling shrapnel. He could feel the heat, taste the smoke in the back of his mouth.

He waited until the noise of the explosion died down, only standing then to take a look at the burnt out carcass that had once been Bleakly's truck.

He walked back to the smoldering truck, his gun in hand. he got as close as he could, with the flames still rising high. Crouching low he looked into what remained of the driver's side door. Nothing.

No body.

No Bleakly.

"Shit," Gibbs cursed. He stood up and looked around, scanning the area. Nothing.

Where had he gone? When had he gone?

Jogging back to the NCIS vehicle he got back in the driver's seat he spun the car around and raced back to the building he had just come from. Where he had left his team.

-NCIS—

AN – Don't kill me... Catsmeou, put down those pins!


	12. Chapter 12

**AN:** – I come bearing gifts, enjoy!

-NCIS-

He hurt, everything hurt. Pulling in a deep breath made him hurt. Lying here perfectly still made him hurt. He tried to catalogue his injuries. But his whole body just ached. He realised he was laying face down on the rough ground beneath him. Slowly he pushed himself over onto his back. Letting out a low groan as his back hit the concrete. He coughed as he tried to suck in too much air. Pain spiking through his chest.

He didn't know how long he lay there for, just breathing. A tap to the forehead got his attention, blinking his eyes open, showing the fuzzy image of a person above him. Blinking a couple more times to clear his vision he saw the one person that didn't surprise him. He tried to smile but he was sure it came out more of a grimace.

"DiNozzo?" asked Gibbs arching one eyebrow. That one word expressing everything. Everything neither of them could ever put into words.

"'M good," Tony mumbled.

"I can see that," smirked Gibbs as he helped Tony sit up. Tony let out a small groan as his vision wavered. "You with me Tony?"

"I got your six," Tony mumbled in response as he tried to catch his breath, the dull ache in his chest subsiding slightly. Bruised, he decided, he was only bruised.

"You think you can stand?"

Tony didn't answer, in truth he didn't know. But he'd be damned if he was going to sit on the floor for much longer and wait for Bleakly to try and blow him up again.

With Gibbs' help he got to his feet. Letting out a stream of colourful language as his left knee gave out. The grip he had on Gibb's arm tightening as he tried to get himself under control. Slowly he eased more and more weight onto the injured limb.

Gibbs didn't say anything as he watched his senior field agent compose himself, waiting for the signal that he was good to go. All the while Gibbs silently looked his agent over, checking that he really was okay.

He'd arrived back to the scene to see McGee running across the parking lot towards the building, before turning his gun on him. Gibbs had got out the car then to show his junior agent that he was a friendly. But before he could say anything he'd been distracted by Tony charging out of the building followed closely by a large explosion which blew out all the glass from the windows. His senior field agent was thrown several feet in the air before crashing limply back to the ground and lying so still he'd feared the worse.

He'd watched as McGee was also thrown to the floor. He was momentarily stunned by the turn of events; two of his team members had just been flung to the floor like they were no more than rag dolls.

Composing himself he started running, stopping to crouch down next to his closest agent. He was relieved to see McGee staring up at the sky, blinking rapidly.

"You good?" Gibbs asked, placing a hand on the younger man's shoulder as he looked over his body, checking for any visible injuries.

"Yeah," McGee breathed.

Gibbs looked up to the sound of running feet. Ziva and Palmer were approaching Tony, who still lay so still.

"Ziva, help McGee," he yelled. "And call an ambulance."

He watched the indecision cross the Israeli's face as she contemplated disobeying the order. With one last glance at Tony, she turned to start jogging towards McGee who was slowly pushing himself into a sitting position.

Gibbs was on his feet again and running towards his senior agent. In the brief moment he'd had his attention focused on Ziva, Tony had rolled onto his back. He felt like he could breathe for the first time since arriving back at the scene.

Looking at him now, Gibbs watched as Tony favoured his right leg. He didn't miss the blood staining his left pants leg at the knee. Nor did he miss the cut on his forehead, which was still bleeding quite profusely. Plus the various scrapes on his agents arms from the falling glass and his collision with the ground.

"McGee and Ziva?" Tony asked bringing Gibbs back to the present.

"They're okay," reassured Gibbs as he slowly led Tony towards the car. Neither of them commenting when Gibbs threw Tony's arm across his shoulders to help the younger man out.

"Tony, are you alright?" asked Ziva when Tony and Gibbs finally made it to the car. Her concern showing through.

"I'm good," grinned Tony, though right now he felt anything but good. He wanted, no he needed to get this damned Kevlar vest off his chest. After suffering many broken ribs in the past he'd decided that his chest was only bruised, but the added weight was still making it hard to breathe.

Ziva raised an eyebrow in surprise, she did not look convinced. She was about to question him again but Tony started to talk.

"McGee, thought I told you to run?" deflected Tony as Gibbs helped him lean against the hood of the car, then without being asked he helped Tony take off the vest.

Instantly, Tony started to feel better, he rubbed the centre of his chest to ease the remaining soreness to a dull ache.

McGee shrugged, wincing as his bruised back protested the movement. "Couldn't let you have all the fun."

"Next time I tell you to run-"

"I'll ignore you," McGee interrupted, smiling slightly. "Again."

Tony opened his mouth to say something but closed it again quickly when he realised he had nothing to say. There weren't many people who would run back into a bomb inhabited building for you.

The team descended into a comfortable silence, the only sound was the rapidly approaching sirens in the distance. This place would be crawling with agents and other emergency services soon.

"Boss, where did you go?" asked Tony after a while.

Gibbs scowled, "After Bleakly."

"You get him?" asked Palmer eagerly before back tracking. "S-sorry, I guess not," he mumbled as he looked at the empty NCIS car.

Gibbs glanced over to the smaller smoke cloud a few blocks over from their location, where the burning car was located. "I had him."

"What happened?" asked McGee.

"I don't know," Gibbs growled in frustration as he explained what had happened. But he still couldn't work it out. There had been no opportunity for Bleakly to leave the vehicle. Surely he would have seen if Bleakly had jumped from the moving truck.

"Damn it," sighed Tony hanging his head. "He beat me."

"He beat all of us," corrected Ziva.

"Yeah, but he wasn't playing against you," sighed Tony as he swiped the blood away that was dripping into his eyes.

"Hey, you're alive aren't you?" pointed out McGee.

Tony didn't answer; it still didn't feel like winning to him.

-NCIS-

Tony sat in the back of the ambulance, an instant ice pack resting against his swollen knee. The cute EMT was finishing cleaning the cut to his forehead, he tried to hide the wince as she used steri-strips to keep the wound closed, until he got to the hospital. Which he was reluctant to go to. If he left now, he wouldn't be able to help process the scene. He wouldn't be able to track down Bleakly.

He looked to the distance, where he knew Gibbs, Ziva and McGee would be. They were at the car wreck waiting for the fire marshal to declare it safe so they could collect the little evidence they could.

Looking around the parking lot he was still sat in, he counted the agents securing the scene and looking for any trace of Bleakly. Nobody would be getting back into what remained of the warehouse for many hours to come.

"I don't get it," growled Tony, more to himself than anybody else. They were missing something. they had to be.

"Get what?" asked Palmer from further inside the bus where the second EMT was bandaging his cut wrist.

"Why'd he crash the damn car?" said Tony in irritation.

"I don't think he intended to do that, Tony," said Palmer, trying to placate the frustrated agent. "Maybe he just made a mistake."

"No," said Tony adamantly. "We're missing something."

"Like what?"

"I don't know," sighed Tony. "Bleakly's plan was complex, he didn't make mistakes. Everything had a reason; everything could mean two or three different things."

"Okay," Palmer said slowly, unsure of where Tony was going with this.

"Why here? Why this building? He gave us clues that specifically led here. But there's nothing here," Tony pointed out as he looked at the neighbouring buildings.

"You said he liked to play games," Palmer said trying to help.

"Yeah, just like his brother. He had us running round in circles too before we figured it out," Tony shrugged.

The two men lapsed into silence while they let the EMTs finish patching them up.

"What is it that this place has, that nowhere else has?" Tony said after a while.

"Errr..." Palmer let out, now completely confused with the agent's leap in logic.

"Agents," he said getting to his feet. The EMT shouting at him to sit back down. Which he ignored as he started walking towards the car he'd arrived in, all those many hours ago.

"Tony, wait up," called Palmer jumping out the ambulance, much to the EMTs displeasure.

"Don't you see?" said Tony as he opened the trunk of the car and pulled out McGee's spare laptop.

"No Tony, I don't see," said Palmer, utterly confused.

"This place is crawling with Agents. We're packed in here, between our vehicles and the fire crew's. The logistics of us trying to drive out of here in a hurry would be impossible." explained Tony as he opened the laptop and clicked for it to start up.

Palmer looked around the near vicinity; he had to agree, other than NCIS HQ, he'd never seen so many agents in one place. "Do you think there's another bomb?"

Tony thought about that for a moment, watching Palmer sweat. "No," he finally said, grinning. Palmer let out a long breath in relief.

"He wanted us all in one place, so he could go freely someplace else," Tony said cryptically as he clicked some more keys on the laptop before spinning it around to show Palmer the screen.

"The Bank of America?" asked Palmer, not following.

"You said it yourself, Bleakly said all he wanted was to be _'paid his due'_," smiled Tony. "He's going to rob the bank. This was never about revenge," Tony shrugged. "Though I'm sure he liked that idea too. This is about money, always has been. Just like his damn brother."

"Tony, I'm sure there are easier ways to rob a bank," said Palmer not convinced.

"Maybe, but not the one on the Navy Yard, it's got to be one of the most secure banks in the city. Except for right now," Tony stressed, hoping that Palmer would get it, would understand. "NCIS have used up all its resources chasing this guy over half the city, with six previous bomb strikes; we're spread so thin it's beyond ridiculous. The only people left on patrol are skeleton crews and rent-a-cops.

Tony was getting frustrated that Palmer wasn't following his logic. To him it was obvious so why couldn't anyone else see it?

"Palmer, don't you see, it's gone from the best protected bank to probably the worst in the matter of hours."

Tony watched as the light suddenly went on, Palmer's eyes going wide. The Bank of America was one of the largest banks in the country, and the one on the Navy Yard tended to hold more cash than any other due to its location.

"So what do we do?" asked Palmer.

"_We,_ do nothing," said Tony handing Palmer the laptop. "I'm heading to the bank, you go tell Gibbs."

"Why me?" asked Palmer, paling slightly at the thought of telling Gibbs what Tony was doing.

"Because I crushed my phone when I almost got blown up for the third time today," he laughed before he started to jog towards the bank. Ignoring the sharp pains in his knee.

-NCIS-

**AN** – I know some of you might be disappointed that I didn't put Tony in a more fatal position with his injuries, but I hate hospital scenes. Once you've read one, you've read them all. Besides, I like the whole hero Tony. Think John McClane played by Bruce Willis in Die Hard. The man just. Keeps. Going!


	13. Chapter 13

**AN** – So I was having some difficulties getting this chapter out. I lost count of the number of times I re-wrote it. So here it goes, enjoy!

-NCIS-

"Palmer what are you doing here?" asked McGee as he spotted the ME assistant running towards him. "Where's Tony?" His concern instantly peaking.

Hearing her teammate Ziva looked up from where she was crouched by the burnt out car.

"Errr, . . Tony's gone to the Bank of America" Palmer gasped. "On base."

"Why on earth has he gone there?" asked Ziva. "Should he not be going to the hospital?"

"That's where Bleakly's gone. Tony says it's to do with money-"

"Just like his brother," McGee interrupted. "Boss!" he yelled getting Gibbs' attention.

Gibbs looked up from where he was scouring the area.

"Boss, Tony's gone after Bleakly," said McGee as he ran up to Gibbs.

Gibbs only reaction was the slightly widening of his eyes. How did DiNozzo know where to look? He hadn't even seen the scene. Of course this was DiNozzo, seemingly illogical leaps of logic was his forte.

"This was a heist, all the bombs were just a distraction" explained McGee. "Tony figured it out."

"Do we know where he's going?" asked Gibbs.

"Base bank."

Gibbs pulled out his cell phone intending to call DiNozzo.

"Gibbs, Tony's phone was destroyed in the last explosion," stated Ziva. Gibbs let out a low growl in response as he shut the phone. He looked around their current location for a suitable vehicle. There was nothing. All the vehicles were blocked in by the fire trucks.

"How did Tony figure it out," asked Ziva, throwing her hands up in the air. "Again."

"It's what he does," growled Gibbs. He was proud of his senior field agent. His ability to think outside of the box was what often leads to him being able to figure out a criminal's next move. But damn if it wasn't annoying when his survival instinct was put against everything else. DiNozzo would never put himself first.

"Where are you going?" called McGee as Gibbs started running away from the scene.

"To get DiNozzo's six," Gibbs shouted back without looking.

Ziva and McGee looked at each other before running after their boss.

"What should I do?" called Palmer to their retreating backs.

"Find Abby," shouted McGee.

-NCIS—

Tony could see the bank, he'd only run a couple of blocks but his knee was screaming at him to sit down. Right now though, he knew that if he stopped he wouldn't be getting up again.

Pushing on, he ignored how it was becoming more difficult to breath. The dull ache of his ribs had turned into a strong throbbing pain. But he would not quit. He was going to finish this.

Finally, he walked into the bank; looking down at himself he grimaced. He looked like an extra that'd just walked out of a post-apocalyptic movie. His shirt was torn in places and blood stained with his own blood. His pants were not in much better shape. The left leg over his knee was a large hole where the EMTs had been all too happy to use their scissors to get at his swollen and grazed knee. His own skin looked no better; he was cut, bruised and covered in dirt. He looked very out of place in the immaculately clean bank lobby.

"Sir, can I help you?" asked the security guard, blocking his path.

"NCIS," said Tony as he showed the man his shield. After the amount of times he'd been blown up in the last day he was surprised it was still attached to his belt. His actual photo ID, was long gone. "Where's the manager?"

"Back there," pointed the guard at the tellers' desk.

Tony walked towards the back of the bank. He could hear the guard on his radio as he looked around the bank. There was only one other member of staff, a young man behind the counter who was busy typing on the computer. There were no customers. It was still early, so that could be normal but in the famous words of Abby it just felt hinky.

The door at the far wall of the bank opened to reveal a short man in a suit. A badly worn suit, though looking at his own suit Tony couldn't really compare right now.

"Are you alright?" asked the manager in concern.

"Its laundry day," shrugged Tony as he peered into the office. He couldn't see any other employees. Where was everybody?

"You been quiet here today? Nothing strange?" he asked.

"No," said the manager shaking his head. "It's all been normal."

Tony wasn't convinced. The man was too shifty.

"I need to see your vault."

"No, I cannot allow that. Nobody but senior employee's go to the vault floor," stated the manager adamantly.

"Look, I've been in close proximity to four bombs in the past day, all of which have gone off. I am tired of this bastard who is currently in your vault, robbing the place. So when I say I need to see your vault, I really need to see your vault."

"That's impossible, we have the best security system in the city. I would know if there was somebody in there."

"Damn it," growled Tony in frustration. "Where's your security office? I want to check the CCTV," asked Tony, trying for a compromise.

The manager looked Tony up and down before nodding and leading the way through to a tiny little office. One wall was full of screens, each one with a different camera angle.

"Which is the vault?" asked Tony

"This one," pointed the manager at the bottom right hand screen.

The picture showed an empty vault, no people inside. Looking at the time and date stamp at the bottom left of the screen it seemed to be correct. There was no flicker or static. It seemed normal. But his gut was churning. Something wasn't right. _Damn it!_ He needed McGee. He had no idea how to tell if the feed was being tampered with.

"Sir, you've seen the camera's there is nobody down there," explained the manager who was becoming rather irritated with the young man who looked like he'd just walked in off the streets.

"Agent DiNozzo-"

Tony had his gun out and pointed at the small man in the blink of an eye. "I never told you my name."

Suddenly something heavy slammed into his side. He crashed into the wall of monitors, momentarily stunned he dropped his gun. He looked up to see the security guard staring manically down at him, the end of a Glock pointed at his head.

"Well this is new, Bleakly has a partner," smirked Tony up at the guard.

"You just don't know when to give up, do ya?" growled the guard.

"I'm the freaking energizer bunny. I just keep going," laughed Tony.

He got a kick to the ribs, a loud snap sounded through the room. Tony let out a harsh gasp as he collapsed to the ground. His arms cradling his chest.

"Oops, looks like I broke something," laughed the guy. He drew his foot back ready for another kick.

Tony laughed, _God_ did it hurt. He watched as the guard looked down on him in confusion

"What is so funny, little bunny?" growled the guard.

"You, you dumb fuck," spat Tony.

The guard roared in anger as he aimed his foot at Tony's chest again. Tony ignored the splitting pain as he shot up; pulling his knife from his belt he lunged forward. Stabbing the blade through the man's pants and into the calf muscle.

The guard screamed in pain.

Using the opportunity, Tony reached for his gun. Scooping it up off the floor he aimed it at the guard, who had forgotten about his own weapon and was reaching for the hilt of the knife.

"Don't move," yelled Tony. He was ignored. The guard gripped the hilt and yanked it out of his leg, blood spurted across the floor.

"Don't fucking move!" screamed Tony as he aimed his gun higher. The guard raised the knife as he lunged towards Tony.

He pulled the trigger.

Twice.

"Don't even think about pigging up that gun," said Tony lowly, not looking at the manager. He stepped towards the fallen guard, two holes in his chest.

"Th-they made me do it," stammered the manager.

"Sure they did. Now sit down," Tony indicated the desk chair in the corner, keeping his weapon in hand he crouched down to check the status of the guard. With two blossoming blood stains and eyes wide open, glazed. There was no questioning the man was dead.

"How many are in the vault?" asked Tony as he stood up and walked towards the desk.

"I-I don't know, I only saw two guys," said the man. "What are you gonna do with that?"

"This?" Tony asked holding up the phone cord he'd just ripped out of the wall. "I'm going to use it to tie you to the chair."

"Why? I told you I'm not with them. I'm not, I swear," the man begged.

"That's great, and this way I know you're not coming after me," shrugged Tony, now put your hands behind your back."

Tony placed his gun on the desk, before tying the manager's arms to the back of the chair.

"Which way to the vault?" he asked as he picked up his own gun again along with his knife that the guard still clutched in his dead hand, and finally he picked up the guard's Glock. Checking the mag. He put the safety on before placing it at the back of his waistband.

"The elevator to the basement or the last door on the left is the stairs," answered the man.

"Excellent, now you just wait here for Gibbs," smirked Tony as he tapped the manager on the shoulder.

"Who's Gibbs?" called the manager.

"My boss," smirked Tony as he closed the office door. "And the man who is going to kick my ass when he catches up to me," he muttered to himself as he started towards the stairwell.

-NCIS—


End file.
